Having met my wife, Ping, via a friend of hers I met in an AOL chat room, I thought it was only fair to return the favour to the 1000's of people out their looking to find their soul mate on the Web.

It all started back in '98 with me when I was chatting to a young lady on AOL, and we got on as good friends. She had recently split with her boyfriend and moved from Singapore to work in America, and as she wasn't looking for a long term relationship at that time she passed on Ping's address in Singapore. I wrote a letter as she had no computer access, and wasn't sure if I'd get a reply as she wasn't even expecting anyone to write. A few days later I had a nice reply, including 3 photos, and new straight away this was the babe for me.

I ended up visiting Singapore 5 times, 3 weeks at a time over a 2 year period to visit her, as we had to wait until her work contract ended before she could travel to the UK.

We applied for a UK Visa as a fiancée in 2000 in the British Embassy in Singapore while I was their on my last visit, and her interview went like a dream, mainly due to myself being their, and about 5 kilos of letters as proof of our relationship. A few weeks later I was collecting her from Manchester airport ready to start our lives together.

The fiancée Visa in the UK last for 6 months, and you must marry within this period. If you can't, it must be a very good reason, and you must let the immigration know as soon as possible. Never delay giving them information; it will go against you in the future. What ever you do, DO NOT lie about anything to the immigration and DO NOT apply for a Visitor's Visa if you intend to marry, they will more than likely send them back home to apply for the correct Visa.

I actually had a medical problem during the 6 months, and having informed the immigration, Ping was granted a further 3 months stay.

We have now been married for a few years now, and happily live in a small village in North Wales.

We visited her family in Oct 2003, in Davao, Mindanao. We did go for 3weeks, but due to the security problems thanks to the terrorists, we hade to bale out after 2, and spend a week in Singapore. Not that I was complaining, as the country is beautiful, and hopefully we'll be buying a small property there to use for holidays.

In December 2005 my wife applied for British Citizenship, and although the Home Office states this takes 9 months to process, it was all finished within 8 weeks.

Never rush into a relationship, and definitely do not marry in the Philippines, it is more trouble than it is worth, even though marrying in the UK means your Filipino partner can not claim money, work, or leave the country for the first 2 years, this is an acceptable problem. After that time your partner can then claim for UK citizenship. This can take 6+ months to go through, but does make travelling abroad easier.

Good luck with your future, and I hope this site can help you in a small way. If you do find successful love, please let us know via the forum.